


Give Us Time (We'll Be Hurting For a While)

by UsagiTsuki181



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Angst with a Happy Ending, Author's First Try at Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Original Character Death(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-29 20:09:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17210117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UsagiTsuki181/pseuds/UsagiTsuki181
Summary: He’d been so blinded to what his actions had been causing, simply because he hadn’t wanted to look with clarity at what he was doing. Reborn knew that if it wasn’t for that particular wake-up call, he’d have never would’ve …...Reborn received a startling wake-up call to what he'd been doing towards Skull, and this is just a look into how they are in their recovering together.





	Give Us Time (We'll Be Hurting For a While)

**Author's Note:**

> Originally, I thought of this for a "road to recovery" kick, but ... I mean, c'mon? Seriously? We're going to downplay or just outright ignore the fact that what Skull went through, through the series, wasn't abuse? 
> 
> Yes, my love for Skull could bias my opinion, but I stand by what I've always felt regarding Skull. You know why he's my favorite? Because I love the characters that don't screen as the most damaged, and Skull's damage was devastatingly heartbreaking, what drew me to him in the first place when seeing how he was treated by so. Dang. Many! I'm a morbid person at heart, and have a morbid thinking. How much morbid can you get, than knowing that people sharing the same Curse target for their misplaced aggression, ordering around, and simply humiliate if not outright ignore a person that SHOULD'VE raised the God thrice damned warning bell because his profession was PERFORMING?! It's a bitter laugh to know, Skull's being civilian before getting tagged for the position of Cloud Arcobaleno? 
> 
> Tsuna was a civilian, tagged for being the Vongola Family's Decimo. Tsuna was pa-thet-ic before he was given a chance to shine, and yet, Skull, the ORIGINAL civilian-tagged Reborn had to work with, was NEVER given a chance to shine, what I'm undoubtedly thinking suppressed his Flames from burning Brighter, and yes, I just capitalized that "B" in the word "brighter". I'm an ATC fan, so sue me that's how I feel. 
> 
> ... Look, I'm a bit snappish, because honestly, this, what I wrote, means a lot to me ... and Skull's ... like I said, he's my favorite character. He's relatable. 
> 
> Anyways ... I'm working on the next few chapters for L'ora Delle Straghe, but considering the fact that the content of them weren't as well worked with as the previous chapters, it'll take some time getting chapter five out, but don't worry, shouldn't take too long. ;) I mean, hopefully won't take until the next year getting it up and posted by, lol. 
> 
> Not so lol, triggers that may include discomfort with the content written, and ... I'm not really good with figuring what a trigger is, so basically, there's some dark content that is more or less implied/referenced here? Well, hopefully it was warning enough ... 
> 
> Well, enjoy Give Us Time (We'll Be Hurting For a While) as best you can ...

He should’ve done better to hurry home. 

 

Reborn absolutely hated when a hit ran longer than what it was supposed to. Before, Reborn had only himself, and so had absolutely despised when a hit ran longer than it should’ve, cutting into time he could’ve been utilizing for  _ anything else _ , namely  _ other _ hits that could’ve been less frustrating, among other things. 

But he didn’t have only himself anymore to absolutely despise a hit running over longer than it should’ve for. 

“And three days later, does he return,” Skull said sarcastically as he had in his hands, two mugs of different hot drinks in them,  a mug of coffee - espresso, as always - for his lover in his one hand, and a mug of hot chocolate for himself in his other hand. 

 

Reborn had Skull now.

 

He’d just come from the kitchen, having finished making the two mugs of different hot drinks just as soon as Reborn pulled up into the drive of their home, Skull’s uncanny ability for when telling when Reborn was home … well,  _ uncanny _ . They were now standing in the first floor hallway of their two-stories abode, and Skull looked quite the miffed sight as he held the two mugs in either hand, his hair a mess of tangles and looking quite like a bird’s nest, more than usual, that is to say. 

“I know,” Reborn said softly, his tone apologetic as he took his mug from Skull, who then clasped his free hand around his own mug, holding it more carefully than before. Both stayed where they were, well aware of a talk on its way.

 

And on its way, it was.  

 

“You haven’t slept,” Reborn noticed, having spotted worrisomely underneath Skull’s eyes, dark shadows, they telling of at the very least, a night more than one with a lack of sleep. Damn, he had tried his damndest best to hurry along the hit’s proceedings, but speedy often yielded sloppy, and his was a career that if you were sloppy in carrying out, quite likely,  _ you  _ would be the next to be  _ “carried out” _ . 

 

But yet still,  _ he should’ve done better to hurry home _ . 

 

Skull huffed, and averting his gaze to the floor, his head turning and tilting down with his gaze, he said, “I managed.”

Reborn knew quite well how well Skull “managed”. He  _ never _ wants to see Skull “managing” again. 

“Skull, please. You should be asleep,” Reborn said worriedly, his concern overtaking his lips and tugging them down into a frown as he stared intently at Skull. 

“I couldn’t sleep,” Skull retaliated by confessing, confessing what was already a known, before saying, “I was too scared of waking back up.” 

It was a familiar conversation the two were starting to have, familiar in that this wasn’t the first conversation that they had regarding Skull’s subconscious worrying of  _ “waking back up” _ , waking back up from a dream present, only to find himself still stuck in that  _ more-than-thrice God damnably awful past  _ of nothing else but psychological, verbal, and physical abuse, of self-depreciation and depression, but most of all,  _ loneliness _ .  _ ‘And it’s all your fault,’ _ a niggling, rather medium-volume voice giggled rather twistedly in the back of Reborn’s head, that voice the doubt of his worthiness to be by Skull’s side, that voice the doubt of his right to being the one that the damaged Cloud could, shall, and had and has turned to for comforting and care, love and affection, too.

 

He’d been so  _ blinded _ to what his actions had been causing, simply because he hadn’t  _ wanted _ to look with clarity at what he was doing. Reborn knew that if it wasn’t for  _ that _ particular wake-up call, he’d have never would’ve … 

 

_ He can still see Adora’s body, she hanging limply from the rafters of her apartment as she hung from that noose, the stool she kicked out from under her feet overturned on the floor underneath her. Ironically named  _ beloved _ , the young woman was anything but, she having been with anything but love, having endured a horrible some years of psychological and verbal abuse, and coming with neglect comes loneliness and so much  _ horribly more _ as one’s left with their dark, darkening darker, and darker yet still darkening dark thoughts. _

 

It took the death of a loved one that suffered so much the same -  _ yet still not so much the same _ \- for him to realize just  _ what _ he’d been doing to Skull, and it took much longer, far much longer for Reborn to do as he’d been suggested in doing by  _ Viper _ , of all people, when after the Curse had been broken, that being “ _ going to see a f***ing therapist _ ”, the miserly Mist’s  _ exact _ words. 

Honestly,  _ nobody _ who’d been involved in the “couple’s counseling” fiasco could  _ ever _ forget what was revealed, what nearly had Skull’s own therapist going and making good on her threat to request a legitimate  _ restraining order _ from the Vindice on the former Arcobaleno, none excluded, all included, as to keep them away, as far away as possible, from Skull!

 

_ By the Lord  _ had that been a conversation, that night! Reborn hadn’t been even  _ remotely  _ aware back then of just  _ how badly  _ he had done in damaging Skull, and even then, was that only the  _ tip  _ of his massive clusterf*** of an iceberg  _ scum  _ actions towards the more psychologically damaged than he thought Cloud. 

 

At least Skull was out of that mindset, but the time it took to build the amount of trust to even  _ attempt  _ getting Skull out of that mindset had been … 

Reborn  _ really  _ hated himself, is what we’ll leave it, all things considering.

 

The rich scent of espresso kept him grounded in the present reality, instead of nightmare’s past, keeping Reborn from taking an unneeded walk down memory lane. 

“How bored were you, these last three days?” Reborn questioned instead of replying as he and Skull trekked up the stairs to their bedroom, Skull’s mug of hot chocolate still clasped so carefully in both of his hands whereas Reborn’s mug of espresso was only held in the man’s one hand - his left hand - by the handle. Skull took a sip from his mug as they continued their walking, and said after swallowing down that sip of rich liquid dark chocolate, “The attic’s been organized and reorganized three times now, I moved all the furniture not bolted down or screwed into the wall in the house an inch over to the left, Leon and Oodako are currently asleep outside as they’ve been taking guarding the vegetable garden to a new level of “ _ why even _ ” after a rabbit came and laid waste to the carrots, that rabbit currently laying waste to the neighbor’s flower patch three miles over, last I heard, and I’ve been contemplating buying a puppy. So pretty bored.”

Reborn couldn’t help his amusement at all what Skull said, saying, “Three times? Thank you for the warning, and their love for vegetables is astounding. And a puppy? Really?” 

“The first time because it needed organizing, the second time because to make doubly sure, but the third is just for the sake of organization,” Skull said as they came to their bedroom’s door, which Reborn opened and allowed for Skull to enter first before following him in, closing the door behind him. “You’re welcome, and that’s only because if they don’t keep the vegetable garden well protected, they feel useless when not fighting alongside us. And yes, really.”

“How is it that what you find “pretty boring”, is anything but?” Reborn questioned as he set his mug down on his side of the bed’s nightstand, Skull doing the same with his mug though setting it down on Reborn’s nightstand. Skull sat down on that side of their bed, shrugging. “Dunno, just do.” 

Reborn frowned, averting his gaze away from Skull to the bed as he began unbuttoning his shirt, his suit jacket he had hung up already in the foyer closet for the next day’s retrieval for laundry. Skull was in one of his moods again, meaning that he’d relapsed again, and that … was never pleasant. No wonder then, that Leon and Oodako were avoiding the house by sleeping outside to “keep an eye on the vegetable garden”. Skull’s moods were nerve wracking for animals, especially Flame familiars, as they could feel the negativity dripping off the Cloud so very immensely more than regular animals could. 

He lifted his gaze from the bed to see Skull’s ducking his own gaze down to it, causing for Reborn to raise a brow at the rosily red coloring dusting along Skull’s cheeks before realizing Skull had been watching him undress his shirt, exposing more of his upper body’s skin bit by bit as the fabric became unbuttoned more and more. 

“It must’ve been bloody, since you showered off before coming back home,” Skull said, keeping his gaze locked on no particular spot on the bed. Reborn didn’t question how Skull knew that, considering he knew already his Cloudy lover had quite the sense of smell. 

“Mm, and one would think you haven’t with how messy your hair is,” Reborn said, discarding his shirt -  _ folded, as to lessen chance for wrinkles _ \- into the laundry hamper, before taking a lock of said messy hair into his hand, seeing the tangles better now. 

Skull glanced up at Reborn, letting a hand rest in his tangled hair as he said, “‘s not my fault my genetics do that.” “Ah, but it is your fault for not brushing these tangles out when once you were out of the shower,” Reborn chuckled as he released the lock of Skull’s hair he’d been holding. 

“Guilty,” Skull smiled slightly now, letting his hand drop from his hair back down to where he had it lying on the bed before, before his smile slipped and he averted his gaze back down to the bed once more. Reborn frowned at seeing that, hating how Skull’s still so unbalanced moods were affecting him (Skull, that is, though arguably, seeing as Reborn’s the one that caused them in the first place ((among the others also playing a part, but Reborn mainly blaming himself)), Skull’s unbalanced moods affected him badly, too). 

Skull jolted from the thoughts he’d gone into thinking, he feeling fingertips along the side of his neck, making him look at Reborn with surprised curiosity. Reborn smiled sadly at him, saying softly, “I question every day why you’re with me, when all I ever done to you was give you nothing but pain, grief, and suffering. I ask myself how it is that you can love me when by all rights, you should hate me for everything I’ve ever done to you, Cherep. I don’t know the answer and don’t  _ want _ to know the answer, because I like my guilt well and good, because I deserve to feel every bit guilty for all the years you suffered by me and the others.” 

Skull huffed as he took hold of Reborn’s wrist, but didn’t remove the hand that now lied on his neck so warmly. “Too bad, you’re going to suffer knowing I love you, despite everything, because for the simplest reason of  _ I can _ and do love you, Renato. I told you once before, that actions -”

“ - speak louder than words to you,” Reborn finished. He couldn’t help the huff of laughter that escaped his lips, he saying to Skull, “Either you’re the most foolish person on this planet, or I am.”

Skull smiled, “Why can’t it be both?” “Hmm, why indeed,” Reborn said as he was leaning in to kiss Skull, the Cloud’s smile widening upon seeing this. When their lips met, the fireworks never ceased to stop firing off for them. 

 

Once upon a time, the World’s Greatest Hitman and the Man Hated by the Grim Reaper Himself were two people on the brink, one doing the shoving, the other looking mightily anticipating of that jump he’d take, until fate decided to be fickle and the one doing the shoving, was the one pulling the other back and as far away from the brink as he could. 

 

Life’s surreal like that, I suppose, but then again, there’s so much more stranger than fiction. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading Gives Us Time (We'll Be Hurting For a While)! Though, honestly, whoever could enjoy what I wrote ... ~-~' I swear, I'm going to have to work on my angst-writing before attempting anything like that again ... I really don't think I did as much a good job with it as I thought initially I did. Meh.
> 
> Also, for this, Adora is actually ... Reborn's something-number cousin, on his mother's side of his family. I got the name "Adora" off of sadisticandshattered.com, the French name meaning "beloved", as you read. Considering the name "Renatus" is where the name "Renato" came from, "Renatus" meaning "born again", "René" is the masculine French variant derived from "Renatus", and I remember a fanficiton I read, by Raven Silversea on ff.net, entitled "Stunts and Physics", wherein the name "René" was used for Reborn. Since then, it became a bit of my own personal thing that Reborn has French heritage residing in his family's tree. 
> 
> Sometimes, Death provides us with a heavily unfortunately good wake-up call on how our life is ... and I could only imagine that the death of a person related to him would make Reborn see just how badly he's been towards Skull, if that person died by the same actions Reborn's been doing to Skull. What else can I say other than that I think darkly? 
> 
> Regarding Leon and Oodako's not wanting to be anywhere near Skull when he's in a "mood", and regarding Skull's "moods" themselves, animals have a sense of knowing when we're feeling negatively, I feel, and because Flame familiars are so closely tied to their human partners, they feel negativity on a higher level than regular animals do. Clouds have always sgtruck me as wolf-like with their loner-like behavior and having "territories" they protect, and wolves are particularly vicious creatures that can unsettle any small creature, so just makes sense to me. Why Leon's gun mode wasn't used for the hit and instead was at the house with Skull and Oodako was because Reborn only ever brings Leon along on a mission when there's no need for killing - or better said, killing won't be entirely necessary. That, and Reborn trusts Leon to be a reminder to Skull to not do anything rash while he's away, because it won't just be Oodako upset if he does, but Leon and Reborn, too. 
> 
> What else can I say but I just feel Skull's a sucker for cute and adorable critters giving him the puppy dog eyes, when they're not even the same species as a puppy! 
> 
> Regarding Skull's moods, ... 
> 
> You can't honestly expect me to believe there wouldn't be any psychological unbalance during the road to recovery as a person tries sorting their self out? 
> 
> Well, I hope you all enjoyed the story. And yeah, those mugs of different hot drinks grew cold, lol.


End file.
